Retrospective

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights attacks the Reagan
administration for its opposition to busing for desegregation and
for budget cuts for the Department of Education, saying those actions
both encourage segregation. The administration, in response,
reiterates its opposition to busing and says federal funding cuts
amount to only 2 percent of local education budgets.

Textbook manufacturer McDougal, Littell, and Co., based in
Evanston, Ill., is suing
Kraft Inc. after a photograph of one of the company's English
texts appears on the back of Kraft's macaroni-and-cheese package. The
photo was part of a promotion that would enable customers to get a
plastic pencil box for $1.50 and proof of two purchases of the dinner
mixes.

10 years ago ...DEC. 9, 1992

A coalition of 18 education organizations sends Congress an array of proposed
changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The law is
up for reauthorization in 1993 and the groups anticipate a
significant change in the federal role in education.

A new Gallup poll shows
substantial public support for special school programs for gifted
children, even as shrinking education budgets are forcing cuts in
such programs. In the poll, 61 percent say schools should do more to
challenge the "very smartest" children, but 84 percent say such
support should not come at the expense of slower learners.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court rules that local tax revenues
cannot be used to finance tuition vouchers for students at
religious schools. The state Senate had asked the court to rule on
the constitutionality of a proposed plan that would have required
local governments to pay up to 75 percent of the tuition costs of
private schools.